Automatic bell-ringer



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W.'W. SLATER. AUTOMATIC BELL RINGER.

No. 408,440. Patented Aug. 6, 1889.

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N I O '/M| i B I M 344/0 WW m m (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. W. SLATER.

AUTOMATIC BELL RINGER. No. 408,440. Patented Aug. 6,1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. SLATER, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC BELL-RINGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,440, dated August 6, 1889.

Application filed March 30, 1889. Serial No. 305,453. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. SLATER, of the city of Oakland, county of Alameda, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Automatic Bell-Ringers; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to a device for automatically ringing a bell. It is especially adapted to ring cautionary or alarm bells such as are employed at railroad-crossings and for other similar purposes.

It consists of a bell fixed in a suitable supporting-frame and having a swinging tongue or clapper with a mechanism for actuating the same, which is operated by the pressure of air upon a piston within a cylinder, and in connection therewith of an electro-magnet device, whereby the valve is opened to admit air to the operating-cylinder, the circuit bein g alternately made and broken by the movement of the piston.

Referring to the accompanying drawing for a more complete explanation of my invention, the figure is a vertical section taken through the bell and the air-cylinder, showing also the connecting-levers and the valveoperating electro-magnet and mechanism.

A is the frame, mounted upon the top of a post or other suitable support and having the.

bell B fixed within it by means of a shank and bolt at the top or by other suitable or convenient device. In the present case I have shown a bolt for this purpose having a downwardly-projecting forked end C, within which is fulcrumed a bell-crank lever, one arm D of which hangs vertically when in its normal position and carries the tongue or clapper E, which is secured to its lower end, as shown. The other end F of the bell-crank lever has connected with it a rod G, with a suitable adjusting screw to regulate the length of the rod, and the lower end of this rod is connected with a lever H, which is centrally fulcrumed upon a post I, fixed upon the base of the framework A, as shown. The lever G connects with this lever H near one end, and upon the opposite end of II is a counter-weight J, which is fitted to slide upon the lever, and may be adjusted to any desired point to counterbalance the mechanism connected with the opposite end of the lever.

Connected with the end of the lever H near the point of attachment of the rod G is the piston-rod K, which extends upward from the piston L within the cylinder M, and is connected with the lever by a suitable link,which admits a vertical motion of the piston-rod, While allowing the circular motion of the end of the lever H.

A pipe N opens into the cylinder above the piston L, and when air is admitted into this cylinder through the pipe its effect is to force the piston down, and acting upon the lever II, the rod G, and the bell-crank lever which carries the clapper the latter is caused to swing and strike the side of the bell with a degree of force dependent upon the pressure of air, and also upon the amount of cushion at the bottom of the piston. This latteris regulated by means of a small dischargeopening at the bottom of the cylinder, which is controlled by an adjusting-screw or petcock 0, which will allow the air to escape from beneath the piston when the latter is forced down by pressure from above, but which will cushion the piston by adjusting the cook or screw so as to allow the air to escape more or less rapidly. Above the piston and opposite the inlet-pipe is another adjusting-screw or petoock P, by which the air is allowed to escape after it has performed its office of forcing the piston down, the weight of the counter-balance J upon the lever H and that of the clapper or tongue acting to return the piston, and by adjusting the discharge at this point by means of the cock or screw the speed with which the piston returns after the air-supply has been cut off will be regulated.

The air-supply pipe is of sufficient size so that when its valve is opened the air which is admitted will always be sufficient to force the piston down with rapidity, notwithstanding that a small portion of the supply will escape through the cock P; but the amount escaping is so much less than the supply that it does not interfere with the action of the piston, while the opening P is sufficiently large to discharge the air after the supply has been cut off. By this construction I avoid the complication of valves or similar devices in connection with the cylinder. The supply of air is furnished, as before stated, through the pipe N, and this pipe has in it a puppet-valve Q, which is closed by the action of a small spring R, as well as the pressure of air upon its back. This valve is opened by means of a piston S, working in a cylinder T and having a stem or plunger extending downward through the bottom of the cylinder and pressing upon the upper end of the valve-stem. \Vhen the piston moves downward, this temporarily forces the valve open, allowing the air to pass freely into the operating-cylinder of the bell-clapper. This piston S is actuated by the pressure of the air which is admitted from the main pipe through a passage 1*, the supply being controlled by an adj ustingscrew V, by which it may be regulated.

is an opening in the upper end of the cylinder T, which is of sufficient size to allow the air which enters through the passage U to escape without acting upon the piston S; but if the passage \V be closed temporarily the pressure of air will accumulate sulficiently to force the piston S down within its cylinder, and thus open the valve Q, and thus admit air to the bell-operating cylinder. I11 order to close this passage lV, I have shown a valve X, which fits into the seat at the upper end of this discharge-passage XV, and has a shank extending upwardly and connecting with an armature Y above the solenoid or electromagnet Z, this electro-magnet being in the present case shown as arranged in line above the cylinder T. The wires from the battery and to the ground, respectively, are connected by means of holding-screws a, so that when the circuit is completed the current, passing from the battery to a, thence through the solenoid Z, thence through a to c, and thence to the ground through contact I), will act upon the armature Y and temporarily force the valve X down upon its seat, which will close the passage V, so that the air entering through the passage U will act upon the piston b and force it down and open the valve Q, and thus admit air to the bell-operating cylinder M. The circuit is closed when the bell-operating piston L rises by means of two strips or bars I) and c. The strip 1) is secured to the end of the lever H, and the strip 0 is secured to a hard-rubber insulating-piece (I, which is fixed at some convenient point upon the frame A, as shown, and the battery is connected with the strip 0 through the solenoid, so that when the strip 1) comes into contact with c it will complete the circuit and operate the electromagnet Z and open the air-valve, as before described. This completion of the circuit takes place at each rise of the piston and the lever H after a stroke of the clapper has taken place, and it will be manifest that the strokes of the bell maybe made as fast and as forcible as may be desired by regulating the airescape passages in the cylinder H, whereby the movement of the piston L is made rapid or slow, and the cushion is correspondingly made greater or less to make a lighter or heavier blow upon the bell.

The whole operation is automatic, and as long as a supply of air under pressure is contained in the pipe N the bell will continue to ring unless stopped by cutting off the electric circuit or the supply of air.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

-1. A fixed bell having a swinging clapper connected with the piston-rod and a piston reciprocating within a cylinder, an air-supply pipe admitting air to one side of said piston, so as to force it to the end of its stroke, and an escape-passage with a controlling screw or cook of smaller capacity than the air-supply pipe, through which the air may escape after the supply has been cut oif, substantially as described.

2. The cylinder having the reciprocating piston, the rod of which is connected with the swinging clapper of a fixed bell, said cylinder having an inlet-pipe through which air is admitted to force the piston to one end of its stroke, an air-escape passage of smaller capacity than the supply-pipe, with a regulating cook or screw, and a second escape-passage below the piston, with a regulating cook or screw, substantially as and for the purpose as herein described.

3. The fixed bell with the swinging clapper and the cylinder having the reciprocating piston and piston-rod, whereby the clapper is actuated, and an air-supply pipe leading into said cylinder, in combination with a valve closing said pipe, a second piston moving within its cylinder and acting to open said valve, a passage through which air is continuously supplied above said secondary piston and a second passage through which it is allowed to escape without acting upon the piston, and a valve controlling the escape-passage and operated by an armature of an electro-magnet so as to close said escape-passage and allow the air to act upon the piston in the secondary cylinder so as to open the main air-valve, substantially as herein described.

4. The bell-swinging clapper-piston moving within a cylinder and connected with said clapper so as to actuate it, an air-supply pipe connected with the cylinder and having a valve by which a supply is cut off, a second cylinder with a piston, whereby said valve is opened, and passage through which air is supplied to and escapes from the secondary cylinder without acting upon its piston, in combination with a valve by which said passage may be closed so as to imprison the air within the cylinder, an clect-ro-magnet by which said valve is actuated and contactpoint whereby the circuit is closed, one of ,In witness whereof I have hereunto set my said points being: stationary and the other hand.

connected with the upper end of the clapperactuating piston-rod, so that the clapper re- WILLIAM WV. SLATER. turns to its normal condition after contact is made and the valve opened to supply air Witnesses:

to the cylinder, substantially as herein de- GEO. H. STRONG,

scribed. S. H. NOURSE. 

